HOUSTON - ITEX Group will soon start work on turning the former King's flea market into a $41 million mixed-use project, The Village at Palm Center. The project will feature about 222 housing units — 154 apartments and 68 townhomes — and 14,500 sf of retail space.

Located at 5330 Griggs Rd., the project received $15.3 million in federal funding from the Hurricane Ike Disaster Recovery Program, which is meant to spur the creation of affordable housing for low- to moderate-income individuals affected by the hurricane.

Most of the apartments will be affordable housing for low- and moderate-income renters, but a portion will be priced at market rents. The retail space will be located on a portion of the ground floor of the apartment complex.

Amenities will include a promenade, pools, playgrounds, gazebos, a splash pad, barbecue pits and picnic tables. The center of the project will be a 4,000-sf community building with a computer lab, a gym, meeting areas, a coffee bar and a daycare center.

Parking will be supplemented with a parking garage for apartment residents and individual garages for townhome tenants.

Port Arthur-based ITEX builds and manages affordable apartment complexes and rental housing. The Palm Center complex will be its first Houston development.